Ophthalmology
The role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of DMO
Diabetic macular oedema (DMO) is a major cause of visual loss in diabetes, with a complex multifactorial pathogenesis. In the UK alone it is estimated that there are nearly 2.5 million diabetic patients aged over 12 years. Approximately 65,000 of...
A complicated case of cytomegalovirus viremia: “What would you do doctor?”
Mrs W walked gracefully into my urgent care clinic. It was another busy session and I hoped she did not have anything serious going on which might slow the clinic further. She was an elegant 72-year-old lady who seemed like...
Can thou lyse this? A national study of emergency canthotomy and cantholysis
Eighty-two-year old Janet Smith woke up on the floor. Had she been unconscious? Her head hurt. It was the middle of the night, but in the darkness she suddenly wasn’t sure whether she could see out of her right eye....
The Global Vision Database
The overall goal of the Global Vision Database (GVD) [1] is to develop and deploy new and improved evidence on the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment (VI) globally. It is a repository which allows us to assess the causes...
Initiatives in macular service provision
A report from Monitor in October 2015 identifies good practices that will realise most of the potential productivity gain in elective care available to NHS hospitals. These include: stratifying patients by risk and creating low-complexity pathways for lower-risk patients (tailoring...
Blind Veterans UK calls on eye health professionals to direct blind and vision impaired veterans to vital support
A national charity is asking ophthalmologists and eye health professionals to help them reach out to the tens of thousands of blind and vision impaired ex-service men and women who are currently missing out on vital support to help them...
Pathophysiology of diabetic macular oedema: why combination therapy may be better
The prevalence of diabetes has continued to increase over the years. It is currently estimated that there are 382 million with diabetes worldwide in 2013, and that this figure is expected to rise to 592 million by 2035 [1]. In...
Strategies for managing neovascular AMD and DMO in routine clinical care
Treatment practice in the management of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular oedema (DMO) illustrate increasing adoption of patient-tailored treatment approaches based on initial diagnosis and regular monitoring of imaging and visual outcomes in routine clinical care. The...
Genetic profiling for personalised healthcare solutions in AMD – an update
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial condition influenced by genetics and lifestyle factors (Table 1). This article outlines several recent advances in AMD genetics, as well as evolving therapeutic concepts and established practical measures for the treatment and /...
Ophthalmology in ancient india, Sushruta’s time and the modern era
While reading an article related to the history of Indian ophthalmology, I came across this description of a surgical procedure: “The doctor warmed the patient’s eye with the breath of his mouth. He rubbed the closed eye of the patient...
Open source and tele-manufacturing for ophthalmology
Open source or crowd-sourcing and crowd-collaboration are concepts almost always associated with software and public online projects such as Wiki project. Never had I imagined that my team would apply the same principle in ophthalmology. Just less than a month...
Intravitreal injections delivered by ophthalmic clinical nurse specialists
Intravitreal injections of the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agent ranibizumab, for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was approved by National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) in 2008 [1]. The Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH),...